Bottle cover



9 I H. L. KEUN I 2,1,98

' BOTTLE COVER Filed Sept. 2, 1938 INVENTOR.

Lows

ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 15, '1939 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics 1 Claim.

This invention relates to covers and closures and particularly toremovable covers or caps used on milk bottles in the home after theoriginal seal or cap is broken.

An object of the invention to provide a device of the class mentionedwhich is made of only two simple metal stampings easily assembled andinexpensive to manufacture.

A further object is to construct such device so that it may be easilycleaned, rinsed or washed and without dirt retaining corners orrecesses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this classwhich is universal in character, that is, one which fits on all milkbottles without special adjustment or construction.

A still further object is to construct a device of the charactermentioned which snaps. onto a bottle lip utilizing one spring forattaching the cover as well as for retaining the cover in its normallyclosed position.

Still another object of the invention is to form the two parts of thedevice so that they may be nested or fitted in compact packages foreconomic shipping of large quantities.

These and other objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from. a reading of the following specification and claim takentogether with the accompanying drawing in which like parts aredesignated by like reference characters and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view of the bottle cap applied to a conventionalmilk bottle;

Figure 2 is a sectional side view of the same;

Figure 3 is a side view of the cover partly open;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the cover and spring to illustratemethod of attaching the parts together;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the cover and spring taken along thelines 5-5 of the Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a side sectional view of a modified form of cover; and

Figure '7 is a sectional view of a part of a cover showing the formationof the spring holding tongues: before the spring member is inserted andpeened in place.

This invention consists primarily of two parts, the cover member I I andthe spring member 2|.

The cover member II is a simple disk l2 of stamped metal which isprovided with a downwardly extending thumb lever l3. The thumb lever I3is somewhat wider at its top portion 14 to facilitate manipulation. Thelever I3 also has a rectangular opening l5 which extends downwardly forapproximately one-quarter of the length of the thumb lever l3 and whichslot or opening [5 starts at about where the disk portion I2 joins thesaid thumb lever l3.

The disk portion l2 of the cover'member H is slightly larger than themouth of an ordinary milk bottle. At approximately its center there is:stamped or cut a small slot I6 which extends transversely of the thumblever I3. The slot I6 is just long enough and wide enough to accommodatethe special spring 2| hereinafter described in detail.

Slightly inward toward the lever 13 and in line with the slot l6 are twodownwardly projecting tabs or tongues H for clamping or retaining thespring member 2! in place. These tongues may be stamped in the metal atthe same time the cap member itself is formed. The tabs or tongues I1are bent inward slightly so as to facilitate the nesting of the capswhen they are shipped in large quantities before assembly. This is moreclearly illustrated in the view of Figure 7.

The spring member 2| is a simple strip of steel, brass or other suitablematerial about three and one-half inches long and about onequarter inchwide. Approximately four-fifths of its length is curved or somewhatspiraliform in shape. The curved portion 22 is clearly indicated in theview of Figure 4. The rest of its length indicated by the character 23is substantially straight but has a slight bend where it is clamped andheld by the tongues IT.

The straight portion 23 of the spring member 2| is inserted in the slotI6 until the curved portion 22 meets the disk l2. The tongues I! arethen hammered down so as to firmly peen or hold the spring member 2| inthe slot It. This assembly brings the opposite end 24 of the curvedportion 22 through the rectangular opening H3 in the thumb lever I3. Theend 25 of the straight portion 23 of the spring member is bent downwardabout one-quarter of an inch or just enough so that it engages theinside shoulder 3| of the container 30. To attach the cover to a bottlethe user simply slides the disk portion l2 across the top of thecontainer until the spring end 24 engages the outside groove or lip 32and the end 25 snaps onto or engages the bottle inside shoulder 3l. Thecover II is held in place by the pressure or tension existing betweenthe spring ends 24 and 25. To remove the cover, one need only to lift itor slide the spring ends 24 and 25 up past the mouth of the bottle.

The drawing of Figure 6 illustrates a modified design of cover. Themodified design operates the same as the one previously described exceptthat the disk portion l2a is somewhat concave and has a circular flangel8 around its edge which enables it to be more closely fitted to themouth of the bottle 30.

As conductive to a clearer understanding of this invention it may bewell to point out that there are many similar devices already patentedand on the market. However, none of them embody the extreme simplicityof design shown in this invention. Because of the few parts needed andbecause each of the two parts may be simple metal stampings, the cost ofmanufacture is extremely low. Furthermore, because of this fact thearticle lends itself to free distribution as an advertising medium orother sales stimulant.

It will now be clear that I have provided a bottle cover whichaccomplishes the objects of the invention. While the invention has beendescribed in its preferred forms and while certain specific terms andlanguage have been used, it is to be understood that the embodiment ofthe invention as described is merely illustrative and is not to beconsidered in a limiting sense as various changes may be made in thematerials or assembly without departing from the spirit of the inventionas no limitation upon it are intended other than those imposed thereonby the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A cover for a milk bottle of the type having an internal circumferentialshoulder and an external circumferential groove, comprising incombination, a cover member having a slot therein, a thumb lever havingan opening therethrough, the said thumb lever being integral with thesaid cover member, a substantially curved spring member having astraight end and a curved end, and tabs on the bottom of the covermember for retaining the spring member in fixed relation thereto and ina manner whereby the said spring member projects upward through the saidslot in the cover member, and downward through the opening in the thumblever thereby causing the straight end of the spring member to engagethe bottle shoulder and the curved end to engage the said bottle groove.

I-I. LOUIS KEUN.

